Love in Lords and Crystals
by Sewk
Summary: This fanfic is divided into three separate parts. PiperxOC Part 1 summary: Cyclonis finds a crystal that if used correctly could turn the tide of the battle.
1. Chapter 1

Here it is, the beginning of possibly the first PiperxOC Fanfic (If anyone out there has written or attempted anything like it, say something!) I know the fans are mostly with the original couples like AerrowxPiper, FinnxAerrow or StorkxOC, but I rebelled and went for more rarer pairing.

Remember this is the Prologue, the chapters will be longer.

Well anyway, I hope you enjoy.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm etc belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

Characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Crow and Zados etc belong to me.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals **

**Part 1: Prologue**

**Strongest**

Two years since the aurora stone was stolen and the mission in whom the Storm hawks retrieved it; The Dark Ace circled the skies of Terra burn; he'd been flying for over 3 hours and was growing more impatient. 2 Talons flew steadily behind him; they too were getting more uncomfortable.

Terra burn was a plain, flat Terra that had been deserted for years; the Cyclonians were doing something there that no one apart from the master herself really knew about. A Cyclonian mother ship flew over with roaring engines and dropped its gear. It landed steadily on the grassy, flat land. Dark ace flew down with his two guards to check it out; he was going to fall asleep otherwise. Another 4 ships followed with hundreds of riders, it seemed like the whole fleet. The 2nd landed and deployed several diggers, everyone was in a hurry.

Dark ace was only told to guard the area until the backup arrived, so he found no harm in coming down to see what was going on. A ramp came down from the 3rd and biggest mother ship, out stepped Master Cyclonis shouldered with Ravess on her right and Snipe on her left. Her hood shielded her face as she walked into the sunlight. A ship leader gave Cyclonis a clipboard, she examined it for a few moments and handed it back, Ravess kept an eye on the skies around them the whole time. More machinery emerged from the ships and began to dig in the centre of the terra. Repton growled and followed the rest of them nearer to the digging camp.

By dusk, the whole Terra had been turned into a base around the massive hole. They now had to lower diggers into the pit by crane, so the hole was taking longer to dig. Dark ace wandered around the area on foot making sure there were no intruders, especially _them_. Repton loaded a blazer crystal into his boomerang, he could sense something.

"Hurry!" Yelled Cyclonis, she noticed a light in the distant night sky. Suddenly a talon flew up with a huge, navy blue crystal in his hand.

"It's…" Cyclonis was lost for words, everyone gathered round. Dark Ace would have wanted to see, but there were more important matters. The Condor was approaching.

"Let's go you fools!" Cyclonis hurried into her ship with the rest of the Cyclonians, they quickly abandoned the camp and zoomed into the dark clouds. Dark Ace held back and retreated to the 4th ship, they flew after the others. The Storm Hawks didn't bother to chase, instead they went to see what they'd wanted. Aerrow, Piper, Finn and Junko left the Condor and landed on the Terra. Aerrow stepped towards the hole making sure he didn't fall in.

"It's not normal for Cyclonians to run" He said as he stared into the pit.

"They ran for a reason" said Piper, examining some crystal dust. She showed it to Aerrow.

"What is it?" Asked Finn.

"It's… The Cranium Crystal!" She exclaimed.


	2. 1 The Crystal Master

The official first chapter of the Fanfic. I hope you enjoy.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm etc belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

Characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Crow and Zados etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

'Terra Tranqua' from Talon Academy, Episode 22.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals **

**Chapter 1****  
**

**The Crystal Master**

"What's a cranium crystal?" asked Junko, staring at the dust.

"No one has ever been sure, according to rumours it's a crystal that requires knowledge to be used to it's full potential. With Cyclonis' knowledge, it could do anything" Piper explained. Aerrow looked into the horizon where the Cyclonians had gone.

"Then we gotta get it back!" he said angrily.

Cyclonis stared at the crystal in its glass case, Repton also walked past now and then giving it a quick glance. Ravess hurried over with Dark ace.

"Master it's-"

"-The Storm hawks?" Ravess nodded. "Destroy them!" Cyclonis snapped. Ravess felt nervous, it was the first time Master Cyclonis had ordered the Storm Hawks to actually be fought head on. She grabbed her bow and left with Dark ace.

"I see something!" shrieked Stork, Aerrow noticed a horde of dots that seemed to grow the faster they went. He suddenly noticed Dark ace's sword glowing in the mist. Finn fell back.

"It's an armada!" he yelled. Stork frowned.

"It was nice trying to think my demise would be quick and painless" A Cyclonian Destroyer roared out of the mist, it was more than 5 times their size.

"We're not done yet!" said Aerrow, he ran to the Hangar with Radarr, Piper and Junko who grabbed Finn by the head and swung him over his shoulder. When everyone was ready to go, Aerrow turned to them and said:

"This is going to be harder than our Cyclonia invasion and our fight to stop the Murk raider fleet a few months ago. So I want you guys to know, if someone doesn't make it…" He said nothing more. He quickly jumped down and flew towards the armada.

After they left, Stork brought the Condor away to prevent damage. Junko got his knuckle-busters ready when he saw Snipe and his mace.

"No wonder they're putting up a fight like this" said Piper, trying to remember what a Cranium crystal looks like. Dark Ace charged forward towards Aerrow with 9 Talons behind him, Aerrow avoided the strike but found he was flying into a wall of Talons. The Storm hawks looked around, they were already trapped. Finn dived towards the wasteland suddenly against what Piper had planned.

"What are you doing?" asked Junko. Finn waved up to him. Aerrow took out his energy blades and went as fast as he could through the wall. Junko and Piper got away.

"You ok, Radarr?" asked Aerrow, he looked back, Radarr just frowned. Beyond his co-pilot he saw Dark ace loading a purple crystal into his sword.

Dark Ace whirred the sword around and fired it. There was a massive explosion and Aerrow's sky ride was destroyed.

"Not even that great sky knight can match an Armageddon crystal" Dark Ace laughed, Aerrow watched his beloved machine fall helplessly to the fiery pits below while he and Radarr came down slowly with the parachute. He looked up to see Finn and Piper being captured by the talons, Aerrow attempted to deploy the battle glider, but it was jammed. Junko was below Aerrow in a parachute, he was calling something to him.

"Look out!" Aerrow turned his head and saw in a flash, Dark Ace tearing through his parachute.

Aerrow fell helplessly but suddenly he found himself in Junko's arms.

"I got you buddy!" He said.

"Thanks Junko" said Aerrow, Piper and Finn were gone along with the rest of the talons.

"Stork! Do you read me?" Aerrow called, he awaited a response.

"Stork here" Replied Stork.

"We need you to collect us"

"On my way" Aerrow looked up and saw the Condor coming to help them. Aerrow, Junko and Radarr landed safely and ran inside to chase the Cyclonians.

Piper slowly awoke to find herself in a cell; Cyclonis stared down at her from the other side of the bars.

"I was waiting" she said.

"Where's Finn?" It didn't take long for Piper to realise where she was.

"It doesn't matter!" she snapped, Dark Ace stepped behind her.

"Prepare the fleet; you will take the talons to Terra Tranqua" Dark Ace looked around.

"Why Terra Tranqua?" He asked, he raised an arm and flinched trying to stop Cyclonis from snapping at him. She didn't.

"There is a house on the southern edge, I want you to go to it" She said nothing more.

"What do you want me for?" asked Piper, Dark ace walked away.

"The crystal I have been looking for will not activate, and I need someone to fix this crystal as even I cannot" Piper gritted her teeth.

"I will return later to negotiate" Cyclonis left Piper alone in the dirty cell. For the next several hours, Piper watched familiar faces like Repton or Snipe pass, but Cyclonis didn't return. She also wondered where Finn was.

Dark Ace, Ravess and 11 Talons descended to Terra Tranqua.

A small stone house sat peacefully at the southern end, Dark Ace would have turned around, but he knew Cyclonis wanted whatever was inside. They landed and knocked on the door. Dark Ace drew his sword, the door opened to reveal a young man in a dark robe with green dragons, his hair was jet black. He was young, pale and serious-looking.

"The crystal barer, I see" Dark ace didn't understand what he meant.

"Master Cyclonis sent us to this house" said Ravess.

"I know, I received a code" He turned back to Dark Ace.

"You look familiar" said Dark ace. The stranger frowned.

"Lord Sigma Maxilos, Crystal master" He smiled and walked back into his house.

Dark ace and Ravess entered leaving the talons outside, the inside walls were covered with heads of unusual creatures and strange posters. Maxilos rummaged through his junk and found a strange microscope. "Cyclonis wanted me to help her find the power of the cranium crystal; you know what I'm talking about, right?" Dark ace nodded, he restrained himself from kicking the freaky young man and forcing him to go back to Cyclonia. Ravess followed Maxilos into his hangar, inside was a much different skimmer. It was a quad-bike with folded wings; she'd never seen anything like it.

"How long is the journey back to Cyclonia?" he asked.

"More than eight hours, a girl named Piper from the Storm Hawks was supposed to help, but she was useless" said Ravess.

"That's a long time, better stock up on crystals" said Maxilos. He mounted his ride and opened the door.

"We're going!" yelled Ravess through the house; Maxilos was already a large dot in the sky.

They ran back to their skimmers and chased after the eccentric 'Lord'


	3. 2 Wrath of Cranium

Note: I call him Maxilos because they call him Sigma in flashbacks and dreams. Anyway, enjoy.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm etc belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

Characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Crow and Zados etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals **

**Chapter 2**

**Wrath of cranium**

"I'm glad you could join me, Sigma" said Master Cyclonis as she tapped the keys of her machine. Piper was in the room also, but with two guards. Maxilos eyed her as he walked in, but set his gaze back on Cyclonis.

"Shouldn't you be Mistress Cyclonis? You're a chick after all…" Maxilos strut into the throne room as if unaware of the armed talons. Cyclonis spun round, but didn't attack. She held the Cranium crystal out and Maxilos took it without hesitation.

"You want me to examine this crystal?" asked Maxilos - Cyclonis nodded. "And what will you give me in return?" He grinned and turned to face her. Cyclonis sighed, she would have enjoyed destroying him, but it was essential that she gets that crystal going.

"What ever… you want…" she said, Dark Ace frowned. A bigger grin broke on Maxilos face as Cyclonis stared at him angrily.

"Really? That's not like you, but oh ok… Let's see… Never attack Terra Tranqua…That's the first… and…" Cyclonis raised an eyebrow; "And?" Dark ace put a hand to his face and hissed. "I want her" He pointed at Piper, she replied with a growl.

"No way!" she yelled; the guards held her in place as she struggled.

"Dark ace told me about her, a fellow crystal fanatic" Piper still didn't ease up, but it helped knowing maybe she could send a signal to Aerrow from Tranqua.

"Fine, I was going to have her disposed of anyway" said Cyclonis, she took Maxilos hand and shook it. After the handshake, Maxilos walked away with everyone else to discover the Cranium crystal's properties. Piper watched Maxilos leave with overwhelming fear in her eyes.

"I need that crystal" said Cyclonis, a vision filled her mind._ One million airships across all of atmos, forcing everyone to serve and erect statues dedicated to Cyclonis! The execution of the sky-knights and destruction of every Terra with all creatures and humans working as talons!_

_Watching Dark Ace pierce Aerrow's heart. That unforgettable look of failure and imminent death in his eyes.  
_

"Is this what you want?" came a voice, Cyclonis turned to Piper who stared back. "They will save me" said Piper, Cyclonis smiled.

"Don't push your luck" she replied as she sat down in her father's recently discovered throne. Maxilos examined the crystal with the microscope.

"Impressive" he said; he turned to Dark Ace who was waiting impatiently behind him.

"What did you find?" asked Dark Ace, frowning.

"Put it in your sword" Dark Ace took his blade and put the crystal in the end, they went to a landing strip outside. Dark Ace swung the sword and let the beam emerge, but it wasn't normal. It was like a blue atom bomb, the charge from it had gone for miles, lighting up the whole of Cyclonia. Power pulsated through the bodies of the bystanders. Dark ace gawped and clutched his sword.

"It's almost unreal" asked Maxilos as he watched the explosion grow.

"We don't even need talons anymore…" Dark ace gasped, he took the crystal and handed it back to Maxilos hesitantly.

"Think, Dark ace; That's how not to use it, this crystal is powered by intelligence. Use it properly and it will guarantee victory" Dark ace handed the crystal back. Ravess took one last look at the fading explosion in the distance and followed Maxilos.

"I'm finished" said Maxilos strolling in. He handed the crystal to Cyclonis. She grunted and snatched it, nodding her head.

"You're welcome" he said. "And good luck" Maxilos untied Piper and took her hand before hurrying away. He got on his skimmer with her and they headed out quickly.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" asked Piper, her eyes were teary. Maxilos said nothing. Piper held on to his waist to stop her from falling, she said nothing either.

"I'm sorry" said Maxilos after a long silence; it was the last thing Piper expected to hear. "You are younger than I, not a lot younger, but you've dedicated more of your life into saving people from all over atmos even sometimes to your own loss, and that I admire. If you really want, I will contact the Storm Hawks and have them find you" His tone of voice never changed. Piper let a tear blow away. She gazed around at the dark clouds and sighed.

"Do you know where Finn is?" She asked after another silence.

"Take this" he handed her a Sight crystal.

"_Do you know where Piper is?" asked Aerrow as Junko covered Finn in bandages._

"_Dude, suddenly everything went all black and I found myself in the wasteland!" Finn rubbed his head._

"_At least you're ok" said Aerrow._

"_Who knows what tortures Piper could be going through, they must want her to tell them where we are" said Stork._

"_I hope she's alright" said Junko._

Piper wiped a hand over her brow.

"Can't you take me back to the Condor now?" she asked.

"I'm not going to circle around aimlessly looking for it" He seemed kinder to her, but she tried to avoid conversation with him anyway, he could be a bad guy after all. Dusk soon fell and Maxilos turned round to see Piper sleeping against his back, he smiled and turned to the front to continue flying his large Quad-craft.

"_Piper! How can you just leave us like this?!" exclaimed Aerrow, Finn and Junko shouldered him, weapons drawn._

"_You're no Storm Hawk" said Finn._

"_You wanted to stay away from us" said Junko, Radarr appeared and growled._

"_What he said" said Stork._

"No!" Piper was in a bed, there was a kettle boiling in another room. A window was letting the sunlight in, its curtains were open and the sky was blue as sapphires outside. Piper's shoes, gloves and socks were in a box next to the bed, but apart from them, she was fully dressed. She could hear the faint sound of a guitar strumming calmly down the stairs. Piper thought of where she was, it felt unusual not having the ground silently vibrate below her. She almost smiled and looked out the window, the view was amazing. On the right was a peninsula of daisies and other flowers and on the left was the clouds for as far as the eye could see.

The strumming of the guitar stopped and footsteps came up the stairs.

"Good morning" said Maxilos, he was wearing normal clothes (normal Atmosian clothes)

"Hi" Piper quickly masked the smile with a depressing look. "What time is it?" Her mouth hurt, she realised she hadn't had a drink since before yesterday's battle.

"10 am, breakfast?" Piper followed him down the staircase. She saw a sink and quickly got a cup.

"Feel free to use anything" He rushed down another staircase.

"Thank you" Piper didn't want to say too much, she was melancholy and shy which she hadn't felt for a long time; she wasn't herself.

Piper went out a back door into the field and looked over the edge of the cliff. She then went back inside and crept into a darker room with all kinds of animal's heads on the wall. She had only one question.

"What kind of person are you, Sigma?" she asked herself.


	4. 3 A forgetable memory

Here it is, it's been a while but I've finished the third (I know it says 4) chapter of the Fanfic. This is where Piper gets close to Sigma and there is some explanation on his past. Major twisting.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm etc belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

Characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Zados and Crow etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals **

**Chapter 3**

**A forgettable memory**

"Piper!" Maxilos called; she followed the sound of his voice past the basement staircase and into a dining room where Maxilos had made a breakfast.

"Thank you" is all she said.

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned" Piper thought about it, but then again she was too hungry to care, so she ate it anyway. Maxilos looked up and smiled but a slightly hurt look had clouded his eyes. Piper noticed this and let her guard down slightly.

"Where do you keep your crystals?" She asked. Maxilos stood up and walked down a staircase; she followed him down to find a huge basement full of strange crystals.

"Oh… my… god!" Piper hurried down and started examining them all. Maxilos watched her and smiled. She then turned to the machinery.

"It's amazing!" she exclaimed.

"I'm glad you like it" said Maxilos. She went up to Maxilos and hugged him, he raised his arms alarmingly but gingerly hugged her back.

"Thanks for saving me" she said quietly, she stepped back and blushed slightly.

"I don't always play the role of a bad guy, I couldn't bare to see someone with talent like yours go to waste" Piper was surprised to see how much he's changed since she met him.

"I still need to get back to the condor though" she said. Maxilos raised his hand.

"I will look for their signal now…"

"No!" Piper looked around nervously as Maxilos turned around. "I… want to stay longer" she said, not knowing what she was doing. Maxilos turned round with a pleased look.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Do you have a shower?" Maxilos tossed her a reduced Drizzle crystal.

"1st floor on the right" he said. Piper beamed and hurried upstairs. Maxilos remained downstairs and returned to his crystals.

"Aerrow to Piper" said Aerrow into the contactor on Piper's Heliscooter. Either it was broken or being messed with.

The Condor waited outside the borders of Cyclonia. "Does anyone have any other ideas?" asked Aerrow, Finn looked down and Junko scratched his little grey hair.

"We're going to be spending the rest of our miserable lives searching every Terra for Piper" said Stork, Aerrow didn't want to listen, there had to be another way.

Piper stood in the shower thinking everything through.

_I can go home!_

_Why?_

_Because he'll take me back to the condor_

_But you like it here, you like his crystals, you like him!_

_No! I... Well... Anyway I better keep my eyes on him._

_Hehe, you can't keep your eyes OFF him! _Piper shook her head and returned to reality. She looked around for a moment before thinking again.

Her over trust for him was sure to lead to something bad. But he'd rescued her for no reason, he said he wanted someone to talk to, was that _really _it? He was her ticket out of Cyclonia, a saviour. Piper felt sorry for him, she wanted to help him but she had to go.

Piper left the shower and dried herself before getting dressed and exploring some more. Maxilos was sitting watching ships fly by in the field of daisies. Piper came and sat next to him; she smiled and watched the clouds.

"When I first saw you, I thought you were some kind of evil crystal professor, but now I know you…" Piper leaned back on her arms.

"I gotta do what I gotta do" said Maxilos . Piper understood.

"I can't thank you enough" she said, Maxilos leaned back on his arms too; he rested his hand on hers but moved it off quickly.

"Its ok" said Piper, Maxilos put his hand back on hers. His ridged snow-white palm meeting the top of her dark, softer hand.

"No, I can't" said Maxilos sadly. He got up and tried to walk away, Piper gripped his arm and stared at him seriously.

"I've had my heart broken before, you will have to return to the Storm Hawks and it will break again" Piper knew what he was leading up to, but she didn't know who broke his heart already. "I have to tell you now before it's too late and I don't care if you feel differently but…" He paused and shuddered "…I love you" he whispered. Piper was speechless.

"I don't know what to say… I… Nobody's ever told me they love me" she said quietly. Maxilos placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It doesn't matter; I just wanted you to know" An earie wind blew past them. Piper knew it wasn't the time or place, but she wanted to know.

"Who broke your heart before?" Maxilos raised his head and sighed.

"It was two years ago, when I was your age on Terra Mesa…" Maxilos and Piper sat down together and he told her.

"This isn't funny, Zados" Sigma spun round the muddy corner and avoided hitting a tree.

"Just try to keep up!" yelled Zados, his short, grey hair blowing in the wind. He launched his wings and took off above the trees. Sigma sighed and took off too. Sigma followed Zados back to their ship.

"I win!" Zados laughed. Sigma parked his skimmer.

"I hope you're happy, your little race just cost us those new enhanced engine crystals!" exclaimed their young, female sky knight.

"Hey C'mon Starling, it was just a bit of fun" said Zados.

"Yeah, it's not like we have to stay alert all the time!" Sigma and Zados high fived. Starling grunted.

Later in the afternoon, Starling was in her quarters when there was a knock.

"Hey, how are you doing?" asked Sigma.

"We've got things to do and you're just playing around" she said with a hint of anger.

"I'm sorry" said Sigma. He thought for a second. "How about we go down to Terra Neon, just us, Make you feel better?" Starling smiled.

"I'd like that, but don't think I'll forget what you did!" Starling shut her eyes and kissed Sigma. At first he tried to escape, but he gave in and closed his eyes.

In the evening, they got ready for a chilled out night, it was the first one they'd had for months. Sigma got a lift from the carrier down to Terra Neon alone to get tickets for rides while Starling got ready, he waited.

And waited.

But she didn't come.

"Starling broke your heart?" asked Piper.

"After waiting for an hour, I hitched a ride up to our ship, but it was gone. I went back to Terra Neon and waited in the rain" Piper rubbed her eyes. "From then on I was no longer an interceptor, I came here to Tranqua and built this house, and my ride" Piper remembered his unusual quad bike.

"I made remedies of crystals and saved many lives in the town, then because I'd saved so many I became the town hero, and I became Lord Sigma Maxilos. But I never went after Starling, I was heart-wasted until yesterday... when I saw you" He looked Piper in the eyes.

"I'm sorry" she said sadly. Maxilos laughed.

"I got over it" he said.

"I've met Starling" she said after a pause.

"If I ever found her, I would..." Maxilos clenched his fist and got up. Piper got up with him.

"I'm frightened that you will do the same" He said. Piper took his hand.

"I won't abandon you, Sigma" she whispered. Piper pressed her cheek against Maxilos' and embraced him.

* * *

Thanks to reviewers for previous reviews, keep reviewing please! 


	5. 4 Living on Tranqua

Note: I finished this Fanfic over a month ago so now I'm just putting up every chapter possibly weekly. Anyway this is Chapter 4 (5) of Love in Lords and Crystals. R&R's would be helpful! I hope you enjoy.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm etc belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

Characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Zados and Crow etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals**

**Chapter 4**

**Living on Tranqua**

Maxilos put his robe on and sunglasses; he was about to open the front door when Piper rushed down the stairs and stopped him.

"Where are you going?" she asked, Maxilos let go of the door lock.

"I was headed into town" said Maxilos; he put the sunglasses on his fore-head.

"Oh I'm coming, I've always wanted to see Terra Tranqua's town" Piper linked arms with Maxilos, he slipped the sunglasses back on.

"The shall I be your tour guide?" Maxilos laughed. They left the house and headed down the stone path over a hill. Hand in Hand Maxilos and Piper got to the top of the hill and looked down at the small beautiful.

"I was going to buy you a new Heliscooter in secret, seeing as you lost your other one" He said.

"Really? You'd do that?" asked Piper, Maxilos nodded.

"It's a beautiful day for flying" said Maxilos. Piper beamed and swung her arms round him.

"Thank you!" she cried. Maxilos rested his hand on her back and waited until she let go.

"Have you ever combined a Slime crystal with a levitation crystal?" Asked Maxilos as they continued walking.

"No, but I would love to see what happens" said Piper.

"I made this indestructable crystal that could be combined with something, I just don't what..." Maxilos chuckled. Piper shook her head.

"You've done some crazy stuff" said Piper. "Have you ever seen a phoenix crystal?" she asked. Maxilos focused on walking for a moment.

"Once, and It gave me this" He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a burn up his arm. Piper gasped silently then inspected it closer she laid her palm flat on it. Maxilos winced and clenched his fist.

"I'm sorry!" Piper jumped and stepped back. Maxilos smiled. "It's ok"

"You didn't finish your story yesterday" said Piper, wanting to change the subject. "Like, how come Zados ran away too? I thought he was your friend" Maxilos frowned and lifted his sun-glasses further up his nose.

"Zados fancied Starling for ages, two others in our squadron were called Gull and… I can't remember his name, but they knew that Zados liked her. Starling and I talked more than she did with Zados. Unless we were on a mission; they never spoke at all. So when I went down to Terra Neon, Zados must have betrayed me and used this as their cue to run away. There can't be any other explaination" Piper nodded.

"How do you know that? She wouldn't just run" said Piper. The town was just over another ridge.

"I don't, but it seems the most likely" Maxilos looked down sadly. Piper took his hand.

"You don't have to worry" she whispered.

"Hey guys! Lord Maxilos is coming!" yelled a man in a nearby grocery. Some people came over to him.

"Lord, Sir! My baby is very sick!" Yelled a woman.

"I will be there in a minute" said Maxilos, the woman wiped her tears away and went back to her house. "Maybe you can give me a hand, Piper" Maxilos grinned at her.

"But I forgot my crystals!" Piper replied.

"Here" He gave her a few strange bottled powders. "I'll need help" Maxilos and Piper followed the woman.

A baby was wrapped in blankets in a cot, it kept coughing.

"Quick, this is a special crystal powder I invented called the ever-crystal powder, it allows effects of another cystal to last forever and this is a healing crystal powder to cleanse the body, together…"

"It will heal her forever?" asked Piper.

"Right" said Maxilos, they opened the lids.

"Ready? You have to pour them together over the whole body or it won't work"

"Let's do it!" They both sprinkled the powders onto the baby, the powders combined in the air to make a pink fluff come down, the baby giggled and tried to swat it.

"That should do the trick, Ma'am" Maxilos turned to the woman and then to the baby's father.

"If you ever need any help, don't just ask me, ask Piper here. She's the real expert" Piper went red.

"Stop it!" she said

"Thank you!" said the mother as she cradled her baby. The father held out some money, but Maxilos didn't take it. He nodded at Piper and the man gave her the money.

"Thank you for your assistance" He said. Maxilos smiled at Piper, she blushed. Maxilos and Piper headed further into the town to find the garage.

"Hey Roberto!" yelled Maxilos into the open workshop, there was a broken skimmer painted blue. A small man with a white beard then came up from the floor through a ladder. Piper scanned the garage excitedly. Roberto came up from the basement; he just wore a dirty vest and some dungarees.

"Lord Maxilos! You haven't been here for a while" He started fixing the broken skimmer. "Don't tell me! Your little lady here wants a ride, and you're being a gentleman, Eh?" Roberto chuckled and elbowed Maxilos.

"Yeah ok" Maxilos scratched his head and smiled, Piper giggled.

"What are you looking for?" he asked Piper. She looked at Maxilos then back to Roberto.

"Well I was wondering if you had any Heliscooters?" Asked Piper, Roberto frowned.

"Follow me" he said, He rushed down the ladder and Piper Followed. Under the ground was a huge hangar with hundreds of different rides.

"Don't touch anything until you know you want it. It cost a lot to get these shipped from Terra Greemus and Mechos" Roberto said before rushing upstairs again. Maxilos followed Piper through the maze of rides.

"Hmm, this one is faster… But this one can carry more…" Piper murmured to herself as she inspected the rides. Maxilos just gazed at her absent mindedly.

"I found one!" A blue Heliscooter almost identical to her previous one.

"Consider it bought. Roberto!" Roberto hurried down again "That was quick!" Maxilos pointed to the Heliscooter.

"It's yours" said Roberto. Maxilos handed him the gold.

"No, it's hers" Piper blushed and jumped at Maxilos, he held her in his arms while Roberto opened the ramp to take them back outside.

"Let's go home" said Piper.

Maxilos mounted the front seat to drive her back to the house; Piper jumped on the back and put her arms round his waist like how she'd done on the journey from Cyclonia. Maxilos' heart felt so light that he feared it would come out of his mouth, He knew now he was really deeply in love with Piper and he hoped she loved him as much as he loved her. Piper got off and opened her eyes; Maxilos pushed the Heliscooter into his garage and locked up. When he finished, he headed inside and walked down to his crystal lab. Maxilos slipped off his robe and put it on a rack in the lab, and then he took his shoes off and rummaged his shelves for something. Piper came down and watched him; he turned round holding a camera.

"Remember this day" he said.

Piper found two stools in the corner and sat on one; Maxilos positioned the camera and sat on a stool as it took a picture of the two of them.

"Do you like living on Tranqua?" Maxilos asked.

"Of course, Sigma" Piper leaned in and kissed him, Maxilos jumped but kissed back.

"I love living on tranqua" said Piper.

* * *

In the next chapter the talon cadets come and kill everyone! No I'm joking!

The Storm hawks find Piper in the next chapter but what will their reaction be when they find out she has a boyfriend? Find out next time!


	6. 5 Airship days

When I write Fanfics I always find that parings between existing characters and OCs are more fun. I'm sure some people would agree. Anyway this is Chapter 5 (6) of Love in Lords and Crystals.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

The characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Zados and Crow etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals**

**Chapter 5**

**Airship days**

It was midnight yet all the Storm Hawks remained awake at the periscopes looking for _anything _that could lead them to Piper.

"Might as well return to Terra Atmosia and find a new navigator" said Stork as he drifted in and out of sleep.

"Theres only one thing we can do!" yelled Aerrow, waking everyone up.

"What?" asked Junko before slumping down on the table again. "We are going to Cyclonia!" Finn just groaned and fell asleep.

The next morning, Aerrow set a course to Cyclonia and the Condor rushed there flew there quickly as possible.

"Three days and still no sign of her, if the Cyclonians don't know where she is, then that's it…" Finn and Junko looked down with a sad expression. The red skies of Cyclonia lay ahead, Stork went full speed and soon the palace lit up.

"Sorry Radarr, We need to keep it low profile" said Aerrow. Radarr frowned.

"What makes you think they're gonna help us?" asked Finn.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" Aerrow replied. Finn snickered.

"No seriously-"

"Ok guys, remember, we just want to find her. Not start a fight" said Aerrow. Junko and Finn nodded and they flew towards the main tower slowly. They landed quietly on a small side runway and crept away from the hangar towards the hallways.

"Hello?" Aerrow called into the darkness, making sure he kept a hand on his sword. The three of them explored the hallways until they found the throne room where Master Cyclonis sat on her father's throne with her eyes closed and her chin to her chest.

"This is bad" said Finn. Aerrow tried to see her eyes, she was not asleep.

"Storm Hawks! Die!" she yelled suddenly. Aerrow stepped back and ran, he just wanted to escape. He ran to the door but it closed itself.

"Where's Piper?" Aerrow asked. Cyclonis stomped slowly towards them.

"Terra Tranqua" she said. Aerrow didn't buy it.

"She's lying" said Finn, taking aim.

"Break it down, Junko" said Aerrow. Junko slammed his knuckles together and punched the door down. The three of them ran down the hallways to the hangar without looking back.

"Quick!" They jumped on their skimmers and took off.

"Terra Tranqua then, it's our only hope" said Aerrow sadly.

Piper opened an eye and looked out the window, the sun was high. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Morning" she whispered. Maxilos made a grunting sound then opened his eyes.

"Morning" he said, he yawned and swung out of bed. Piper kept the blanket to her chest as she came round and sat next to Maxilos. They turned to face each other and then kissed.

Piper hugged him quickly before leaving for a shower. Maxilos got into his shirt and headed downstairs to make breakfast. By the time breakfast was ready, Piper was finished and cleaner than ever.

"Thank you" said Maxilos. Piper looked up and cocked an eyebrow.

"What for? I should be thanking you" she said.

"For everything you've done for me" said Maxilos

"What have I done for you? you've given me everything I could ask for" Piper laid a hand on his. Maxilos decided to change the subject.

"Shall we go on a trip somewhere today?" he asked cheerfully.

"Sure" said Piper. Suddenly the house began to rumble knocking some things over, Maxilos looked out the window and saw a ship with a huge symbol on its engines. The symbol matched the one on Piper's back. His heart sank.

"What is it?" asked Piper, Maxilos said nothing.

"It's them!" she exclaimed after looking out of the window.

"Yes" said Maxilos, The condor landed in a field nearby and dropped the ramp; she saw Aerrow, Radarr, Finn and Junko emerge.

"What do I do?" asked Piper, Maxilos sat down and trembled.

"You go with them" His voice was hollow.

"I won't leave you!" She kissed him. Maxilos made a crooked smile.

"I'll see you again..." he said.

"No! You can… come with us!" She saw Junko and Aerrow go to the town and Finn head toward the house.

"You think so?" asked Maxilos.

"Sure, we could always use a new member" Maxilos got up. His eyes still looked heavy-hearted. Piper opened the door.

"Piper!" yelled Finn, he rushed over.

"Hey!" Aerrow and Junko ran towards them.

"We thought we lost you!" said Aerrow. Junko hugged everyone.

"Save the reunion" said Finn.

"Guys, this is Sigma, he rescued me from Cyclonia!" Aerrow shook his hand gingerly. _Deja vu, _Cyclonian spy. _Lark, _traitor.

"Hello" was all Maxilos said. Piper opened the garage and got on her Heliscooter.

"I want Sigma to come with us, at least for a while" said Piper, Aerrow scratched the back of his head.

"I… Don't see anything wrong with it, we've had passengers before" Aerrow smiled. "Welcome aboard" Maxilos felt light-hearted once again, he packed his things and got on his quad. They drove onto the condor.

"Dude, what's with the hair?" asked Finn, Piper elbowed him.

Radarr sniffed Maxilos; who just smiled and waited for him to go away. They raised the ramp and left the Terra quickly as possible. Maxilos watched his small house disappear from sight.

"I hope you like it here" said Piper, Maxilos had already started decorating his new quarters.

"It seems…" he eyed a peeling wallpaper and crack in the ceiling. "…Nice" He added.

"C'mon, how about a tour" Piper took his hand.

"Thanks"

Aerrow and Finn were listening to the radio whilst Radarr and Junko were adjusting some things in the bridge. Stork remained flying the condor.

"So there's Stork" Piper pointed at the merb who was concentrating on flying.

"Finn, Aerrow, Junko and Radarr"

When she was completely finished with the tour, He went back to her quarters.

"Don't be afraid to be nice to me with my friends around, I explained our relationship" said Piper. She went over to an old drawer and took out a sword.

"This was my fathers, I want you to have it" she handed it over.

"I can't take something so dear to you, if it belonged to a deceased family member, If he is." said Maxilos. Piper nodded sadly. Maxilos tried to hand it back but Piper didn't take it.

"You need a weapon" Maxilos took the hilt and held it up. _Interceptors_

"I'm glad I could stay with you longer" he whispered, holding her in his arms. _Starling..._

* * *

I'm going to buy a Dark ace toy from Toys 'R' us. In the next chapter the Storm Hawks travel to Terra Saharr for the annual Atmos race only to find an unwanted visitor.


	7. 6 Encounters

I want to to say thanks to Dark Knightress and Unleash The Shadow for keeping with the previous chapters, everyone loves reviews.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

The characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Zados and Crow etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up. (I can finally copy and paste it!)

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals**

**Chapter 6**

**Encounters**

"You shouldn't be too hard on Piper, she's had it rough the last few days" said Aerrow, Finn just sat and frowned.

"Remember Lark?" Finn kept his eyes away from Aerrow's.

"But this is Sigma Maxilos of the Interceptors!" Aerrow exclaimed.

"I've never heard of him" Finn said stubbornly. Aerrow sighed.

"That's because they've been dead for a couple of years" he said.

"He and Starling were unlucky survivors" said Stork..

"Come on guys, this is a time to celebrate! We're re-united!" said Junko, Aerrow nodded.

"I say we celebrate on Terra Saharr, and welcome in our new friend" Junko cheered, but Finn just walked off.

"Come on Buddy, you love barbeques!" said Junko. The door slammed behind Finn.

"Maybe he's jealous" said Stork, turning to face the windscreen. Aerrow looked at Radarr anxiously.

The Condor approached Terra Saharr. It landed quickly and stopped. The ramp dropped and everyone stepped out.

"Master Cyclonis, The ships have been prepared; we depart for Terra Atmosia immediately!" said Dark ace as he ran into the throne room.

"How is the crystal?" asked Cyclonis, the moment when she trapped Aerrow was still fresh in her mind.

"Better than ever, we eradicated 2 uncharted terras" Cyclonis smiled.

"Then we-" An explosion tore through the throne room knocking the two of them back, the ceiling of the room was smashed. A cloaked figure appeared holding a staff above, Dark ace fired at it but it was too fast. It aimed the staff at Cyclonis and shot, without her weapon, Cyclonis had no protection. Dark ace leapt in front of her, he was struck in the shoulder and sent flying into Cyclonis. She took a moment to realise what was going on and looked up at the spot where the mystery rider had been, but it was gone. She looked down at Dark Ace, who was breathing heavily beside her.

"You saved me" said Cyclonis emotionlessly.

"Anything for you" He coughed, Master Cyclonis ran a hand down his face, a moment later the talons arrived.

"Master, are you ok?" asked one of them, they all gasped when she pointed to Dark ace. Three helped him away and one remained with Cyclonis but she dismissed him.

"Ravess, search the area for that assassin" said Cyclonis when Ravess stepped past.

"Yes Master" she ran off.

"How dare they!" Cyclonis growled as she inspected the damage. Ravess took 6 Talons to patrol the borders of Cyclonia, they were lucky enough to find the assassin.

"Get back here!" She called, the cloaked assassin didn't oblige. Ravess took an arrow from her quiver and aimed it at the assassin. She shot but the cloaked one shielded it. She made a formation with the talons and accelerated in for a chase. The cloaked assassin slowed down so her could fly alongside her.

"Who are you?" she asked. The cloaked person took their hood off. It was a man around Sigma's age. He had very short, grey hair and red eyes.

Ravess reached for an arrow but he hit her bow away, she jumped up and swept at him, but he was just as fast on his feet as in the air. The talons jumped at him but he leapt back onto his skimmer and used a Nitro crystal to speed away.

"Dude, where's the race?" asked Finn, he watched a tumbleweed roll by.

"Majorly weird" said Piper, the desert where the camp should be was empty.

"It's deserted, get it?" said Finn, he elbowed Piper jokily.

"There must be some logical explanation" said Aerrow.

"Stand back to back" said Stork.

"Something weird is going on…" Aerrow began to walk back up to the condor when he heard a familiar voice.

"Everyone is busy" it said, Aerrow turned around to see Starling standing with everyone else.

"Good to see someone else" said Aerrow, as he went to greet her, Piper dashed up to the condor. Maxilos was fitting a symbol plate on his back to match everyone else. Piper ran into his room.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, Piper hadn't thought about the Storm hawks rare team-ups with Starling.

"It's-" Piper said slowly.

"Wait, I here a voice" Maxilos opened the window and saw the team chatting with Starling.

"It's her" he said calmly. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and began to leave.

"No! Sigma you can't!" Piper exclaimed.

"I've waited two years for this day" He stepped past her and walked calmly to the exit ramp.

"Hey look, it's everyone's favourite sky knight!" He yelled. He pointed his Striker crystal loaded sword at Starling. She raised a brow.

"Sigma?" she asked. Aerrow looked at them with a puzzled look.

"Ok hold on, what's going on?" he asked, Maxilos glanced at him, then back at Starling.

"I…" Starling was speechless; Piper ran down from the condor and stood next to Aerrow.

"You abandoned me" said Maxilos, Starling frowned.

"We had to return to Terra Mesa, the Raptors were invading" she exclaimed.

"Bullshit, I never heard anything about that"

"I was the only survivor of the battle" said Starling sadly.

"Great so while I was sitting under an umbrella in Neon, you were off having a little fight with Repton. Well thanks for breaking the news two years later" Maxilos gave a fake smile.

"It's the truth!" said Aerrow. Maxilos un-charged his weapon and kicked the sand.

"You have this way of always making me feel better" said Maxilos sarcastically.

"Well it wasn't just bad for you! How do you think I felt? You were nowhere to be found on Neon. You were my only friend in the whole world and you were gone too!" Starling found herself staring face to face with him, both of them had furious but slightly upset looks. Piper and Aerrow glanced at eachother.

"It was never about me, it was just about Zados" said Maxilos. Starling clenched her fists.

"What's Zados got to do with this? It was just about me and you, Sigma!"

"That was until Repton appeared" Maxilos grunted and walked back towards the condor.

"We can sort this out" said Aerrow, Starling just stared at the ground.

"I must go" she jumped on her skimmer and took one more look at Maxilos before he disappeared into the condor. She wiped a tear from her eyes and drove away.

"What do we do now?" asked Junko.

Dark ace lay in the Cyclonian hospital wing, his wound was bandaged but it still throbbed from the pain.

"Excuse me sir, do you need anything?" asked a talon, Dark ace grit his teeth and got out of the bed, but he winced when he stood up. He clutched the bandage and breathed heavily. The talon helped him back down but he hit him away.

"I want to find that bastard!" Dark ace exclaimed.

"Ravess tried to take him down, but he escaped" said the talon. Dark ace wiped his face.

"Excuse me" said Master Cyclonis, the talon turned round to see her standing in the entrance. The talon bowed and left the two of them alone. Cyclonis came over and stood beside him, her darkness blended against the white walls and ceiling.

"You're injury will keep you here for some time, so I have sent for a stand-in" Dark ace sighed.

"So now I've been replaced?" he asked, Cyclonis looked at the bandage.

"No, But I need skilled warriors to patrol the area around the empire, I have sent word to 17 terras" said Cyclonis.  
"What if they don't oblige?" asked Dark ace.

"I will destroy them" she said, she took the Cranium crystal from her pocket.

"Why not just enslave Terra Atmosia and demand that they give their finest warriors or they die?" he asked, Cyclonis frowned. "Because I'm assembling the fleet, I sent Snipe back to Terra Minium to design more carriers" said Cyclonis, Dark ace nodded.

"You really trust Snipe to design good carriers?" Dark ace attempted to get up, but his wound hurt too much. Cyclonis noticed him struggling and changed the subject.

"I will find a healing crystal, but for now, you must stay here. I will have Ravess to guard me" Cyclonis began to walk out when she stopped at the door.

"Oh and Dark ace, Why did you save me?" she asked; Dark ace exhaled.

"I swore to protect you" he said, she turned to face him.

"Why did you _really _save me?" she added before leaving Dark ace to think about his answer, he realised what she meant, but he said nothing.

* * *

In the next chapter: Cyclonis gets some new allies and the winds of war begin to blow.


	8. 7 The Winds of War

Late post, my usual deadline is mondays but I'm writing a new fanfic that I probably wont finish but anyway...

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

The characters such as Xzudorax, Saturna and Gidrod etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

**Love in Lords and Crystals**

**Chapter 7**

**The winds of war**

"It is my only desire to please you, my lady" said a man, he walked up and kissed Cyclonis' hand. Two days had passed since Dark ace was hospitalized, for him; it had been long and painful, but for Cyclonis, it had been quick and easy. She had two men and one women standing before her, they were to be her new fine warriors. The first was old, he had a white goatee and bushy eye brows, his eyes were dark green. He clutched his staff and stepped back. The second was blue, fish-like and lankey, he only had some torn shorts and a ripped vest, and he merely bowed and stepped back.

The third was a middle-aged woman, older than Ravess but not an old lady; she had a crystal amulet and many jewels around her wrists and neck.

"As for the other two of you, serve me, or I shall destroy your terras!" They blue man and the woman nodded.

"Ravess, take these three with you to Terra Rivet, bring me back Snipe's ships" said Cyclonis, Ravess stepped forward and the four of them left. Cyclonis clutched her staff and had four talons in the room to guard her.

At the edge of Terra Rivet, Snipe had built 4 ships, not as powerful as his main battle ship he'd attempted, but just as big. Ravess flew down with her three allies and stopped where Snipe was waiting for them.

"You were quick" said Ravess, Snipe glanced at the ship, then back to Ravess.

"We found stuff" said Snipe, Ravess smiled and headed towards the ship's entrance.

"Who are they?" asked Snipe, The old man faced him.

"My name is Xzudorax, I hail from Terra Mechos" he bowed and continued to follow Ravess.

"My name is Gidrod, I hail from Terra Aquinos" He too bowed and continued.

"I'm Saturna, I'm from Terra Atmosia" She walked on without bowing. Snipe chuckled.

"Let's just get out of here" he said before boarding.

"Thanks for offering a lift!" Gidrod exclaimed sarcastically.

Fog had enveloped around the condor leaving it stranded in the nothing.

"Our instruments are going down, one by one" said Stork softly as he fell to the ground.

"Ok guys, as far as everyone knows, the Cyclonians are still trying to find the power of the crystal, so we have plenty of time" said Piper. Aerrow, Finn and Junko examined the map whilst Radarr just sat on Aerrow's shoulder. Maxilos watched Stork fly; he examined the instruments.

"C'mon, you've still got the time signal thing" said Maxilos; he helped Stork to his feet. "We had a merb pilot in the Interceptors too" Maxilos laughed. Stork blew a lock of his fringe out of his eyes.

"…and look how they ended up" said Stork grimly. Maxilos frowned, but he masked it quickly and patted Stork on the back.

"Life's not that bad" said Maxilos; he headed over to everyone else.

"For you" said Stork under his breath.

"I'm not going back to Terra Zartacla" said Aerrow, he leant over the chart.

"Then we have no choice but to swipe the crystal from Cyclonis" said Piper.

"Sounds easy enough" said Finn.

"If she puts it in her staff, it won't be" said Maxilos. There was a sudden gust of wind which sent the condor toppling over, but Stork quickly fixed it.

"Everyone ok?" asked Aerrow, Everyone got up. A huge Cyclonian ship flew past.

"Well that's new" said Junko.

"Stork, get us down!" yelled Aerrow, Stork quickly steered the condor into the fog, away from the ship.

"They're definitely preparing for something" said Aerrow as he glared into the fog.

"It's the apocalypse, the end as we know it" said Stork.

"But how did they activate the crystal so fast?" asked Piper.

"It would take real genius to put it to full power, I only half got it going" said Maxilos sadly.

"We understand you had no choice" said Aerrow.

"We forgive you" said Piper, Maxilos smiled. "Thanks guys"

Master Cyclonis paced the room clutching her staff; Ravess had left an hour ago now. Dark ace stumbled in; the bandage lumped out in his shirt.

"What are you doing here?" asked Cyclonis.

"I don't need to stay in that stupid white room anymore" said Dark ace, he rested on a step.

"You're still healing, I order you to return" She signalled to the guards to take him away, he frowned but didn't complain. Xzudorax stepped aside as the guards carried Dark ace away, and then walked in with his help-less allies Gidrod and Saturna.

"Master, Snipe has finished and is on his way back here" said Ravess, Master Cyclonis laughed.

"Let me guess… he found a bird and put a stick on its wing?" she grinned and turned around. Ravess looked at the ground.

"Gather the talons, it's time we had a chat with Terra Atmosia!" Cyclonis grabbed her staff and loaded an Devastator crystal into one end.

"Go to Terra Bogaton and find Repton" ordered Cyclonis, Saturna and Gidrod nodded before hurrying off.

"Alert Dark Ace that we will be leaving" said Cyclonis to a guard, he rushed off. Master Cyclonis rested her staff down and then turned to Ravess. "I am only hours away from rising where my father fell" she said.

Stork brought the Condor out of the fog and into the sunshine, a small un-inhabited terra lay silently just above the cloud line, Stork decided to land there and check the engines after their long journey. When it was landed, everyone stepped out into the sun.

Time went by extremely slowly; everybody ate, slept or flew around in this time whilst Stork examined the engines.

"How long it this going to take, Stork?" asked Aerrow.

"Our engine crystals have weakened" said Stork, Maxilos came over to inspect it.

"Any sign of leech crystals?" he asked, Stork shook his head. Piper came up from behind and wrapped her arms round Maxilos, he turned round to face her. He whispered something to her and then the two of them strolled over to the edge of the terra. Aerrow smiled and turned to Finn who was sitting on a crate frowning.

"I feel glad for Piper and Sigma, Don't you?" asked Aerrow. Finn grunted and went up into the condor. Aerrow sighed and went over to Stork.

"Hurry Stork, I don't want to be on an uncharted terra too long" he said.

* * *

It's shorter but oh well. In the next chapter, Finn's personality goes from bad to worse, The Dark ace has a vision and the Storm Hawks are grounded.


	9. 8 Grounded

I have no messages. All I will say is enjoy.

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

The characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Xzudorax and Zados etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

_**Love in Lords and Crystals**_

**Chapter 8  
**

**Grounded  
**

"Finn's been really moody" said Junko, Aerrow poked the campfire with a stick.

"Go talk to him Junko, you're his best buddy" replied Aerrow, Junko got up.

"By the way, why do we need a campfire?" He asked.

"Seeing as the condor has no heating at the moment, I thought it might be fun" Junko shrugged and continued up to the condor. Stork rushed over to the fire and rubbed his hands near it before rushing off again.

"Hey Stork!" Called Aerrow, but Stork continued to fix the engines. Radarr returned from the condor with a Green fruit and warmed himself on the fire.

"How you doing?" asked Aerrow, he smiled at Radarr who gave him the thumbs up. Maxilos came and sat down next to Radarr, who snarled and sat on Aerrow's shoulder.

"Sorry about him" said Aerrow, Maxilos shivered and moved closer to the fire.

"I've never seen many alive animals" said Maxilos, he smiled at Radarr.

"Alive?" asked Aerrow.

"Well I have many animal heads at my house" said Maxilos, he pulled out a pipe and lit it using a twig from the fire.

"So you're a smoker?" Aerrow chuckled. Maxilos smiled.

"Rarely, I always thought I was too young so I don't smoke too much. I guess I'm too young for a lot of things I've done" He exhaled a puff of smoke away from Aerrow and Radarr.

"I guess, what do you mean a lot of things? If you don't mind me asking" asked Aerrow.

"Well…" Maxilos began. "I've lived on my own for two years, I've stolen more than enough junk, I've been trapped in the waste land, I've helped Cyclonia take over Atmos, Exiled from a squadron, I've slept with a beautiful girl-" Aerrow raised a brow as he listened to him continue.

"That's a lot of stuff" said Aerrow. '_I knew it!' _he thought.

"And yourself?" asked Maxilos.

"You can kind of tell what we do" Aerrow laughed. Maxilos nodded and chuckled. Stork rushed over and rubbed his hands on the fire before rushing away again. A gust of chilly yet calming wind blew past, Maxilos blew more smoke away.

"So we have a plan for tomorrow?" asked Maxilos.

"We're going to Cyclonia" said Aerrow.

"That is, If we can be running by tomorrow" Stork interrupted. Junko came back and sat by the fire.

"I tried to talk to him, but he kept telling me to go away" said Junko, Aerrow sighed.

"I wonder what's wrong…" said Aerrow to himself. Maxilos took a final puff at the pipe and then blew it out.

"Are you allowed to smoke?" asked Junko.

"Allowed? Where are the rules?" Maxilos laughed.

"Hey, look at the moon!" Cried Junko, everyone looked up at the silver plate.

"It's beautiful" said Aerrow, admiring it.

"Speaking of beautiful, I'm going to see how Piper's doing" Maxilos got up and walked into the condor. Piper was testing some crystals in her lab.  
"Hey" said Maxilos, seeing as her door was already open.

"Hi" replied Piper, she smiled and continued with her crystals. "I don't know what this situation is, these are stubborn crystals" she said, Maxilos raised a brow.

"How come?" he asked.

"They won't react" said Piper.

"I'm sure Stork will find the problem and solve it" said Maxilos, he took her hand but she was trembling. "What is it?" asked Maxilos.

"The Cyclonians could be destroying atmos as we speak!" she exclaimed frustratedly.

"Calm down, In which case the other sky knights will take care of it" Piper paced a hand on his. Maxilos moved in towards her but when their lips met Piper backed away.

"What's wrong?" asked Maxilos anxiously.

"You smell like smoke, have you been smoking?" asked Piper.

"A little, it felt like the time" he chuckled. Piper covered her nose and handed him a strange tablet.

"Eat it" She gagged. Maxilos ate it impatiently but got the kiss he wanted.

"Children shouldn't play with crystals" Maxilos teased.

"Fuck you, I know what I'm doing!" Piper giggled.

"I'll help you with them later" said Maxilos, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Good" Piper spat. The two of them left the room and headed back to the campfire where Aerrow, Radarr and Junko were throwing rocks at a log. Maxilos and Piper joined them and sat together.

Finn suddenly stormed out of the condor and kicked a pile of dirt.

"Hey Finn-" Aerrow saw Finn throw a rock from the ground and felt himself falling back with a graze on his forehead, Radarr quickly helped him up and showed him the stone. By now, Finn was walking into the woods.

"I think he's more than blowing off steam" said Junko, Aerrow rubbed his head.

"I think you're right, See if you can talk to him now" said Aerrow. Junko followed him keeping his knuckles close together.

"What?" Finn snapped, he sat on a log and looked at the moon.

"What's up? We're getting worried" said Junko, he sat next to him. "Is it me?" he asked, Finn glared blankly into the horizon.

"You've been acting really weird since Piper came back" Junko tried to look at what Finn was sternly staring at.

"Is it Sigma?" asked Junko, Finn hissed when he heard the name and stomped off.

Junko returned to the fire, only Maxilos and Radarr were there. "Where's Aerrow?" asked Junko.

"Piper took him to get a plaster" said Maxilos. Junko sat down.

"Do you think Finn is possessed?"

The Dark Ace flew through the skies of Cyclonia; His Skimmer was damaged from a battle. Dark ace clutched his arm's remains and tried to stop the bleeding, nothing he did helped. He soon crashed by the tower, Cyclonis was waiting for him there.

"Why did you _really _save me?" she asked, Dark ace stood up and breathed heavily.

"Why did you _really _save me?" she repeated. Dark ace staggered towards her with his remaining arm stretched forward.

"Why did you _really _save me?"

"Because…" He gasped.

"Why did you _really _save me?"

"I…"

"Why did you _really _save me?"

"Love…" Dark ace opened his eyes, sweat beaded down his forehead. He leant forward and put his hand over the bandage.

"Good morning" said Master Cyclonis, Dark ace spun round to see her sitting beside him.

"You're back" said Dark ace. "…I thought you were going to Terra Atmosia"

"I did, but everyone had evacuated. Someone warned them" said Cyclonis. Dark ace rested himself down again.

"I think I had a prophecy" said Dark ace - Cyclonis raised a brow.

"What happened?" she asked. He told her briefly and missed out the end.

"It's not possible" said Cyclonis, she smiled for a second and began to leave.

"You'll be able to leave in just a few days" she said before she turned the corner, Dark ace decided to return to sleep.

"You…" He added, Aerrow flew down on his skimmer and threw a blade into Dark ace's back making him scream out load.

"Not so tough now" said Aerrow, Radarr flew his skimmer away and Aerrow leapt off.

"Master, help me…" said Dark ace weakly, Master Cyclonis laughed.

"You maggot" she said before teleporting away. Aerrow grinned and raised his blade.

"Strongest sky dueller!" chuckled Aerrow as he kicked Dark ace over onto his front. "I've waited for this day for so long" Suddenly a fire sword cut through Aerrow's chest.

"As have I" said Maxilos, he slashed at Aerrow's neck parting his head from his shoulders. "I will not let you die, Brother" said Maxilos before helping Dark ace over his shoulders.

The Dark ace woke up and yelped attracting the attention of the nearest nurse.

"Are you ok?" She asked, Dark Ace settled down.

"I'm… Fine" he said.

* * *

OoOoH! It all makes by Chapter 27, anyway in the next chapter; Crow is introduced and Maxilos faces off with Xzudorax who may meet his Final Fall.


	10. 9 Final Fall

I'm losing my obsession with Storm Hawks. More episodes, please!

The characters, settings (Burn, Tidal and Palm belong to me) and everything included in Storm Hawks is copyright to Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps.

The characters such as Sigma Maxilos, Crow and Zados etc belong to me. Plus certain crystals were made up.

* * *

_**Love in Lords and Crystals**_

**Chapter 8  
**

**Final Fall  
**

The pain in Dark ace's shoulder was lessening, but it still needed a few more days.

"In my dream, I was dying" Explained Dark ace while Cyclonis examined a Talon staff.

"I doubt it was a prophecy, such things won't happen" She stood up when Gidrod entered the throne room.

"Still no word from Terra Atmosia" he said.

"Did you return?" asked Cyclonis.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then you don't know!" she snapped, Gidrod stepped back. Xzudorax stepped behind him.

"Do not blame him, master. It was my fault" He said.

Gidrod turned to face him.

"How come?" asked Cyclonis.

"It was my duty to check, and I failed" said Xzudorax.

"I want you to find the Storm hawks" she said. Dark ace followed her out of the room whilst Xzudorax took his staff and left for his massive search.

"I want you to take the fleet to every Terra and capture them all" said Cyclonis.

"Gladly" said Dark ace, he smiled and took his sword.

Stork sank his teeth into a cabbage as he worked; it was the only thing keeping him awake.

Finn approached from the trees and stepped over the smouldering remains of last night's fire, his eyes were bloodshot and baggy. Stork watched him go by and then turned back to fixing the engine.

Aerrow stepped outside and breathed out, the bitter air grasping his breath as it condensed.

"Hey Stork, how are we doing?" Aerrow called out. But before Stork could reply, Finn came barging fast Aerrow and storming into the condor. Suddenly a cloud of smoke billowed into the air, and Stork came out smiling.

"Hooray..." He yelled before falling asleep. Aerrow came out and lifted him into the condor.

"You take it easy, we'll wait until you are ready to fly" said Aerrow. Stork staggered off to his room, and Finn stormed back to his.

Aerrow decided that seeing as no one else was up, he might as well go look around some more. Aerrow geared up and left the condor on foot, he would have taken Radarr with him, but the little thing was too lazy. A path led through the small woods and towards an edge. Once here, Aerrow went along the edge to the north end of the Terra. The mud had still held Finn's tracks from the night before, so Aerrow decided to follow them.

But the Terra was long, and Aerrow couldn't cut through the woods to the western side. Aerrow sat down on a log for a second and realised there was another set of larger tracks going the opposite way that Finn had gone, and they were human tracks too.

Aerrow looked up from the muddy ground to see a boy standing opposite him by another log.

"Who are you?" asked Aerrow, he quickly got up and stood his ground.

"Same question" said the boy. Aerrow didn't know what to say.

"Uhh... I'm Aerrow of the Storm Hawks, Is this you're Terra?" he asked.

"No, it was my fathers. My name is Crow" Crow had squinty green eyes and hair white as snow, his clothes were also very white.

"Sorry to have landed here, but our-"

"I know, you're friend told me" His voice was deep but frail.

"Who? Finn?" asked Aerrow, Crow nodded.

"He was upset but didn't want to say anything" Crow sat beside Aerrow.

"I'll try and have a word with him" said Aerrow. He stood up and turned to Crow.

"I have to go, see you around sometime?" Crow smiled and nodded.

"It was nice meeting you, Sky-knight…" He turned around when Aerrow was out of sight.

"Father, the Storm hawks are here on our Terra" he said into a radio.

"Keep them around, I'll be there soon" replied a voice.

Aerrow returned to the condor to open the hangar and wake Maxilos and Piper but to his surprised both Maxilos and Piper's rides were in the hangar bay. Junko went up to Piper's door and knocked, hoping there'd be a reply.

There wasn't.

Junko then went to Maxilos' door and knocked, once again hoping there'd be a reply.

"Come in" said Maxilos, Junko opened the door. Maxilos had his robe on and was listening closely to the radio.

"Uhh… Hey do you know where Piper is?" asked Junko. Maxilos turned his radio down and shrugged.

"She said she wanted look for crystals in the morning last night, but I was too tired." said Maxilos.

"Oh, Thanks" said Junko before slipping away. There was suddenly a scream outside and Junko dashed for the bridge.

"That sounded like Piper!" yelled Aerrow, he ran down the ramp and saw her.

Maxilos, Junko, Aerrow and Radarr came down and saw her standing next to an old man; he held a staff to her neck. A hissing sound came from Maxilos.

"You may know all that sky-fu and martial arts, but it's no match for me" he said.

"Who are you?" asked Aerrow, knowing Maxilos would just bark like a rabid dog if he spoke.

"My name is Xzudorax" he said.

"That guy has energy" said Junko.

"Silence, don't move or she dies!" Xzudorax snapped.

"I can see you're a Cyclonian, how did you know we were here?" asked Aerrow.

"I have my sources" Crow stepped out.

"You!" Exclaimed Aerrow.

"I will enjoy destroying him" Maxilos hissed, he looked Piper in the eyes and she looked into his.

"Just come quietly with me and you can spare your misery" said Xzudorax. Stork arrived at the scene with nothing but a spanner. Aerrow suddenly had an idea when he saw Crow hardly paying attention.

"Junko…" He whispered something into his ear.

"What are you talking about? Speak!" yelled Xzudorax.

"We give up" said Aerrow; he threw his weapon to the ground.

Junko suddenly grabbed Crow and lit up his knuckle busters.

"No!" Xzudorax brought the staff closer to Piper's neck.

"Let her go, and we'll let him go" said Aerrow.

"It's between you and me!" Maxilos bellowed. Xzudorax threw Piper to the ground and Junko did the same to Crow. Soon the two were re-united with their side.

Maxilos took the sword and loaded it with a blue striker crystal, as did Xzudorax. They slashed at the other making a light show of sparks and flames, Xzudorax's staff packed a harder punch than Maxilos had expected, but still he remained calm.

"Sigma!" Piper yelled as she took her staff. Aerrow quickly stepped in beside Maxilos.

"We can take him together" said Aerrow. Maxilos looked back and noticed the blood trickling down Piper's neck.  
"Help her" said Maxilos; he swung his sword at Xzudorax's staff knocking him back towards the western edge of the Terra. Xzudorax found himself only a few feet away from the fall. Maxilos swung his sword round and brought Xzudorax's right hand off, also sending his staff spinning into the wasteland. Xzudorax didn't react to the pain. He only watched the blood pour from his severed hand.

"Stop!" Yelled Aerrow.

"Why?" asked Maxilos.

"I can't let you kill him"

"I've suffered for her, now you will suffer" Maxilos whispered insanely. He pointed his sword at Xzudorax's belly, but swept at his neck severing his head and making his lifeless body topple back and free fall. Maxilos fell to his knees and breathed heavily, Piper came beside him.

She softly led him back into the condor. Aerrow and Junko looked over the edge, then to where Crow was standing. He was gone.

"I'm finished" said Stork. Aerrow and Junko went inside the condor.

The Condor finally lifted off and headed towards the sunrise.

* * *

It's only a few chapters before the first interval! In the next chapter; Crow joins the Cyclonians, Gidrod and Saturna head to Tranqua and the Storm Hawks say their Farewell Finn.


End file.
